The number of people with sore throats in the United States that seek medical attention is an estimated 120 million visits per year. Approximately 12 to 25 percent of those individuals have positive strep cultures. Far more individuals than those diagnosed with strep throat are placed on antibiotics because there are no other available treatments. Streptococcus is one of the most frequent causes for visits to the doctor's office in the United States. It is also one of the most frequent reasons for antibiotic use. Streptococcus is also a concern due to the development of not only throat infections, but also due to the other sequella of the infection, namely rheumatoid heart disease. This is where the organism invades the blood stream and causes vegetations on the heart valves.
Streptococcus is a genus of spherical, Gram-positive bacteria that are known to be the primary cause of throat infections in humans. Streptococcal sore throat, or strep throat as it is more commonly called, is an infection of the mucous membranes lining the pharynx. Sometimes the tonsils are also infected (tonsillitis). Streptococcus pyogenes, a group A Streptococcus (GAS), is the causative agent in Group A for Streptococcal infections including strep throat, acute rheumatic fever, scarlet fever and acute glomerulonephritis (inflation of the glomeruli). The reason why S. pyogenes sometimes causes disease is not entirely understood, but both bacterial virulence factors and host factors are thought to contribute. The microbiota is one such host factor that needs further investigation. Attachment to epithelial cells is the crucial initial step of colonization because non-adherent GAS is removed by mucus and saliva flow.
Conventional therapy for S. pyogenes infections has mainly consisted of treatment with antibiotics such as penicillin and tetracycline. The large numbers of people that are prescribed antibiotics for this illness helps to increase the incidence of resistant bacteria as observed in rising levels of antibiotic resistant infections in the public. Antibiotics that were once almost universally effective against these infections are now approximately 70 to 80% effective. Moreover, antibiotics such as penicillin and tetracycline, exhibit broad spectrum antimicrobial activity. Thus, treatment with these antibiotics tends to kill not only S. pyogenes but a number of other bacterial species, some of which may actually be beneficial to the body. Although S. pyogenes may be treated using antibiotics, a prophylactic vaccine to prevent the onset of disease has been desired. Efforts to develop such a vaccine have been ongoing for many decades, but yet, to date, there are no GAS vaccines available to the public.
There is a long felt but unsolved need for a preventative treatment for sore throat and especially one that does not present the problems associated with the use of antibiotics.